Romanticism in American Literature - 2283 Words

Oppaper Romanticism in American Literature, Getting to Know Thoreau Poe Within this paper will be an explanation of the ideals of Romantic writers in Early American Literature. We will also look at some aspects of Romanticism that were uniquely understood by the writers and artists in the United States. There will be a brief discussion of â€Å"bright† and â€Å"dark† Romantic writing and it is there that we will look at the lives, and one poem each, of Henry David Thoreau, a â€Å"bright† romantic writer and Edgar Allan Poe, a â€Å"dark† romantic writer. Romanticism began in Germany sometime around 1770. From there it spread to the rest of Europe including England and then finally to the United States. In the late Eighteenth Century people’s ideas†¦show more content†¦to engage in peaceful civil disobedience to protest unjust governments. He also wrote Nature, a poem we will look at more in depth later in this paper. Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau) lived from July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862. He was attending Harvard during Andrew Jackson’s second inauguration. He was a freelance writer who tried but was unsuccessful at becoming a fulltime professional writer. Having not been quite as successful at his dream of writing as he is posthumously was a bit of a disappointment to Henry. He had grown up the son of a storekeeper and liquor salesman in respectable poverty and had his share of other sorrows as well having seen two of his beloved siblings die. His brother John died of typhus which he got while shaving. His younger sister Sophia died in 1846 at the age of 36 of the same affliction that would claim Henry’s life, tuberculosis. Thoreau loved the outdoors and would rather live of the land than any other way. He enjoyed waling in the outdoors so much he had said while hunting never did he find his rifle to be too heavy. He held many odd jobs to support himself while traveling and writing but he was very well known in his fathe r’s later business of pencil making. Biographer Robert Sullivan writes that while in the employ of the pencil company â€Å"Thoreau studied various graphite hardnesses [sic] and invented a machine that manufactured a finerShow MoreRelatedThe New American Literature : The Period Of Romanticism Essay1265 Words   |  6 PagesThe New American Literature The period of Romanticism, occurring between the years 1800 and 1860, left a significant impact on not only the literature of that time, but the literature of today as well. Prior to romantic writings, the world focused on society and logic. Romanticism allowed people to start valuing individualism and to appeal to emotional responses. This new way of thinking brought new literary styles, themes, and genres that were never explored before and are still found today. 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